Assemblymember Tina McKinnor Fights Housing Segregation in California
It has always boggled my mind that once an individual is convicted and imprisoned for a crime and they are released, finding housing is one of the biggest hurdles for ex-convicts. Turning people away for a basic necessity such as housing is simply unconscionable. If the punishment has been served why are there so many hoops, especially in California, for a felon to get a roof over their head because of their past legal issues? And in some cases, it’s possible for an entire family to be evicted from their residence because one house member got in trouble with the law. It happens not only in California but in states across the nation. One California Assemblymember Tina McKinnor has declared enough to be enough and introduced corrective legislation to end the decades-old law used to promote housing segregation in the state.
Read the official announcement from the Assemblymember’s office below!
California Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D – Inglewood) has introduced legislation that would end a decades-old law used to promote housing segregation and force unnecessary evictions in minority communities across California. AB 1418 (McKinnor) would end the state’s ill-worded and failed ‘crime-free’ housing policies that have increased housing insecurity for residents across California.
Specifically, AB 1418 would prohibit cities and counties from requiring landlords to use criminal background checks, make alleged criminal behavior without a felony conviction related to the property a basis to evict a tenant, prohibit landlords from evicting an entire household when a household member is convicted of a crime, define nuisance behavior to include police contact and require landlords to include lease provisions that provide a basis for eviction beyond what is covered in the state’s existing eviction law.
“California’s housing crisis has been worsened by policies that further marginalize Black and brown residents under the auspices of seeking ‘crime-free’ neighborhoods,” said Assemblymember McKinnor. “Every Californian wants to live in a safe neighborhood, yet for too many years, ‘crime-free’ housing policies have not reduced crime, increased housing availability or increased housing affordability. AB 1418 will end these harmful policies that have made it harder for Californians to find a safe place to call home and eliminate laws that have resulted in further housing segregation across the state.”
Community and policy advocates agree. “The history of racist policies that drive mass incarceration and have disproportionately criminalized people of color make those same people the targets for exclusion and eviction by landlords due to these so-called ‘crime-free’ housing programs,” said Gail Yen, California Policy Director with Root & Rebound. “This bill would help increase access to housing for, and prevent discrimination against, the people most impacted by mass incarceration.”
AB 1418 will be considered by the California State Assembly this Spring and if successfully passed, could be a guiding light to other states where such segregation policies now stand.
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Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
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